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SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--London Metal Exchange aluminum reversed most of itsgains made in early Asian trade Thursday on reports that Alcoa Inc. (AA) andthe United Steelworkers union had averted a strike with a tentative contractagreement.

Three-month aluminum reached as high as $2,685 a metric ton but began inchinglower when the Alcoa news was out. By 0400 GMT, aluminum was at $2,660/ton, upjust $10 on the London PM kerb.

But unlike nickel prices, which slumped Tuesday after news broke that astrike by workers at Inco Ltd. (N) had been averted, aluminum prices may nothave far to fall.

"Aluminum prices went up in anticipation of a strike, but much of the earliergains have already been given up in the recent broad-based commodities selloff,so in that sense, aluminum doesn't have that much to lose," said aSingapore-based trader.

The rest of the LME base metals mostly drifted in quiet trading, despiteearlier expectations that an extension of LME's electronic trading hours willincrease volumes in Asia.

"Liquidity is largely absent because the market has been very volatilelately, so many players are still sitting it out. One of the main reasons forthe extension is to increase volumes but that's not happening right now," saida Shanghai-based trader.

At 0400 GMT, flagship three-month copper was trading down $55 at $7,845/ton,while zinc was off $45 at $3,625/ton.

The LME confirmed that its electronic trading platform, LME Select, will opensix hours earlier from Thursday, said the exchange in a note overnight.

The new trading times are 0100 to 1900 London time to cover Asian tradinghours.

Member firms will now be able to access LME Select from Singapore, Japan andChina. The Exchange is currently in the process of applying for authorizationfrom Australia and Hong Kong, the note said.

Investors in China, the world's biggest consumer of many metals, were moreinterested in chasing their own domestic market, said local participants.